Chapter 158: Our Great River

"Alright, alright, our little darling will sleep with us! Yanyan, go get your little sister's quilt!" Dad said with a smile.

"I won't! Let her get it herself!" Dong Yanyan twisted away, looking huffy and about to leave.

Mom called out after her, "Yanyan, your dinner is keeping warm in the pot. Eat before you go to bed!"

Dong Yanyan gave an acknowledgement, turned on the kitchen light in the hallway, walked into the kitchen, and lifted the lid of the large pot. Wreaths of gentle steam rose from the pot, and several plates of food sat on the steaming rack. One look told her that Mom had carefully selected and warmed these dishes especially for her. She took out the food, grabbed two small dishes of pickled vegetables from the cupboard, and finished her dinner right by the stove.

After washing up, she returned to the east bedroom. Nan'nan's bedding had already been moved away by Mom. She closed the door and let out a joyful cheer! This room now belonged entirely to her alone! She could do whatever she pleased!

"I'm finally free tonight!" She bolted the door, opened her book chest, took out Ren Jiaxuan's photograph, and gave it a fierce kiss! Then she put the photo back inside her textbook, hugged the book to her chest, and fell asleep.

***

From the second to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, there were performances of the Yangge folk dance every day. Professional Yangge troupes, hired by the village, performed during this time. People could also witness more technically demanding performances like walking on stilts and running dragon boats, accompanied by a deafening and lively clamor of gongs and drums. A few years later, the Yangge troupes would come uninvited purely for money; as soon as the Spring Festival arrived, they would cram into a small pickup truck and perform from village to village. Arriving outside the doors of a sundry shop or a family doing business, they would dance and refuse to leave until they were given a cash tip and set off a string of firecrackers. The troupe members themselves were a mixed bag, merely changing into costumes and waving red and green silk ribbons for a perfunctory dance. Fearing falls, no one walked on stilts anymore.

The Yangge dance of this period was still worth watching. Dong Yanyan led Nan'nan, following behind the dance troupe for several streets, and upon seeing a vendor selling sugar-coated haws further back, she bought two sticks for her. It wasn't until the Yangge dancers finally danced out of the village entrance that Nan'nan reluctantly followed her home, still yearning for more.

"Eldest Sister, I want to watch it again tomorrow!" Nan'nan said excitedly.

"Okay! I'll accompany you! I've got nothing else to do anyway!" Dong Yanyan agreed readily.

The entire period leading up to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth was still considered part of the New Year celebrations. After half a month of eating, drinking, and merrymaking, it snowed heavily on the day of the Lantern Festival. The Beginning of Spring had fallen early this year, and temperatures had begun to rise a few days prior, giving a premature hint of early spring. Because of the warmth, the snow refused to settle. Seizing the opportunity while the snow was still falling, photographers from the town's photo studio drove out to the countryside to take pictures for people at five yuan a photo. When Dong Yanyan ran over to the village entrance to join the excitement, a large crowd had already gathered around the photographer. People in those days had no concept of queuing; whoever lunged forward the fastest got their picture taken first. She was in no rush to contend with the older girls and young brides over there. By the time that bunch had finished snapping their pictures, the pristine white snowfield was already covered in a chaotic mess of footprints.

The photographer was a young man in his twenties. Seeing her standing off to the side watching for a long time, he hurried over and asked, "Little sister, aren't you going to take a picture? I saw you waiting for a long time. Why don't I take yours first?"

"Of course I'm taking pictures. I want to take quite a few. Can you come with me across the big river to take them? The scenery is nice over there, and it's not far from here," Dong Yanyan said with a smile.

"Alright! Let's go!" The photographer agreed without hesitation.

"I want to go too! I want to go too!" Several young girls who hadn't taken their photos yet chirped excitedly and tagged along with them.

Behind the village lay a wide, beautiful, and crystal-clear river. In her childhood, every summer, the villagers would go there to bathe. The river was broad and long; the men fished and swam upstream, while the women and children washed clothes and bathed downstream. Her happiest moments back then were going to the big river for a swim. The clear river water sparkled in the light, gently washing over her calves, and her bare feet trod upon the fine river sand. The sweltering heat of the day vanished the instant she stepped into the water—it was immensely gratifying. From time to time, small fish would swim across the tops of her feet, and the children would giggle and scramble to catch them, playing and frolicking until an entire afternoon slipped away. At dusk, they would change into dry clothes and walk home along the ridges of the fields and irrigation ditches, occasionally picking a few wildflowers or gathering a couple of handfuls of wild herbs. Once home, they would blanch the herbs and toss them with seasonings, and evening's cold side dish was ready. Unfortunately, as time went on, more and more people came here to dredge sand for profit. The river was dug deeper and deeper, leaving the riverbed scarred with large and small pits, and no one dared to come here for baths anymore. Yet once winter arrived and the ice formed, it transformed into an entirely different spectacle. The vast expanse of the river surface became a world of ice and glass. When another heavy snowfall blanketed the thick ice, people could walk right across it. Through countless winters, she had walked on the ice with her mother for over an hour to reach the town's open-air market. Every weekend, villagers traveled in small groups across the frozen surface. The ice near the riverbanks was smashed into icy craters by women washing clothes; beneath the ice was flowing water, covered by a thin layer of newly formed crust, bordered by piles of shattered ice shards. Her greatest joy back then was picking up those crystal-clear ice chunks as she walked, playing along the way so that the journey never felt tiring.

Childhood had drifted this far away.

Standing on the snow-covered ice, she indulged in a sentimental sigh.

"Take a step back, look at the camera, smile~~~~" The photographer pressed the shutter.

After finishing the photos, she led Nan'nan back home. The moment she stepped through the door, she caught the fragrant aroma of fried glutinous rice balls. The sisters flew straight into the kitchen, where they saw Mom standing by the stove lifting the golden-brown rice balls out of the oil and into a plate. Dong Yanyan reached out to grab one, but the moment her fingers grazed the edge of the plate, she recoiled with a burn.

"Ouch, mom, it's way too hot!" She cradled her fingers, crying out dramatically.

Mom remained silent. Having finished scooping out the first batch, she began dropping a new round of rice balls into the hot oil.

"Mom, I took Nan'nan out for photos, so we got back a little late, hehe," Dong Yanyan said, offering an ingratiating smile.

Mom still didn't say anything, and Dong Yanyan stopped probing, quietly eating her rice balls on the side. Fortunately, Dad walked in a moment later. She gave him a questioning glance: What's wrong with Mom again?

"Yesterday, your third aunt and fourth aunt came back, and we had dinner at your grandma's place. Why did you sit right next to your fourth aunt?" Dad asked.

Dong Yanyan instantly grew displeased. "Is my third aunt finding fault again?"

"It's not your third aunt finding fault; it's your second sister saying you were sucking up to your fourth aunt," Dad said.

"Me sitting next to her is called sucking up? Isn't it normal to be close to someone who treats me well?" Dong Yanyan said dismissively. "My second sister is good at everything except that mouth of hers. It's the middle of the New Year, why's she picking on me for no reason?"

"You're still blaming others? Why aren't you like that toward your third aunt? How bad does it look to other people?" Mom's face darkened as she finally spoke up.

Dong Yanyan glanced at her, smiling with a trace of disdain. "You take everything everyone says seriously, don't you? Do you live your life for yourself or for other people every single day? If you hear mole crickets chirping, are you going to stop farming altogether? You're this old, can you not be so fragile?"

With a sharp *clatter!*, Mom smashed the plate down!